It’s medicine, but not as we know it!

Oh look, I’m going to be a devil’s advocate this week, in looking at the diabolical extremes of GP surgeries, not so bad in the Sultanate of Oman, but horrible in the UK health system. Still, there is value in Omanis being aware of how healthcare can suffer when politicians get their hands on healthcare budgets... nothing good comes of it!
But. Is there any alternative? Well, it’s funny you should ask, as it may have passed you by, but an announcement out of China late last year announcing the inauguration of an artificial intelligence, AI, or artificial intelligence hospital, a sort of, upmarket version of a call centre I guess, has opened something of an ethical ‘can of worms', by proposing that AI can do away with the humanitarian side of general medical practice, and still be accurate, trustworthy and viable. So, we must ask the question, can it?
This product of the Zinghua University in China is named the Agent Hospital, and is an incredible foray into medicine, possibly the final frontier of human need, and a futuristic vision of a future where robotics and AI can service thousands of patients each week, with initial estimates anecdotally suggesting a ratio of patient visits in the region of 100 to 1.
Is this an astonishingly innovative approach to the sanctity, the closed doors, of the medical profession? Is it something our GPs, who sometimes appear bored and disinterested in our aches, pains and grumbles, would embrace? Or is it a direct assault on the profession’s societal hierarchy? Is it chopping away at the legs of the pedestal upon which the profession stands?
Probably yes! Yet it could be said justifiably, particularly in the UK presently, NHS (National Health Service) budgets are being slashed, operating waiting lists number in their thousands, even tens of thousands, young doctors – residents – are qualifying, then finding themselves without jobs, and nurses are being culled, all at the same time as non-medical management numbers, and their salaries, are exponentially increasing.
These NHS failings are placing immense pressure on the frontline health provision through GP surgeries, with the most vulnerable, the elderly and the very young at immense risk, with waiting times of up to a month just to get a GP appointment. What are you to do? You don’t get sick by choice, and a month could see a most undesirable outcome.
So, the AI model, under the Med-Agent Zero protocol, is this: Patients arrive at the hospital to be guided robotically through documentation and security, to a scanner which will access their medical histories, and take the myriads of measurements and readings, through non-contact AI, the data will be analysed, and a diagnosis, treatment and prescriptions all finalised as the patient exits the ‘conveyor belt', and trundles off home.
During 2025, Beijing’s Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital treated 1,500 inpatients and 10,000 outpatients each day through its AI package, conceding that in enhancing precision, efficiency and economics, it loses the ‘human touch.' There is no doubt however that documentation, pathology, screening and diagnosis are ‘ahead of the curve.’
Hospitals in name only, these are, at 93.06 per cent, startlingly accurate, non-intrusive medical experiences, with no surgical or emergency interactions, providing quality, affordable and timely healthcare services. Given global concerns around the increasing costs of medical care, could AI prove a light at the end of the tunnel? Of course, concerns are legitimate regarding the authenticity of AI-human interactions, the moral and ethical issues, and the loss of compassion and humanitarian perspectives.
However, it appears China’s investment in AI medicine is relentless. So, under this assault, is the medical profession’s legacy at risk? It’s medicine, but not as we know it!

Ray Petersen The writer is a media consultant